Elseworld: Batman Begins & Superwoman Arrives
by Last Daughter of Krypton
Summary: AU Batman Begins movieverse. Long before the brutal murder of his parents, a six year old Bruce Wayne happens to visit the town of Smallville Kansas on a cross country trip with his parents. Full Summary inside
1. Disclaimer & Author Note

**_DISCLAIMER: _I do no own nor take the creative rights to the characters of Batman, Superman, or any of the DC Comic Universe characters, places, or events. I do however take a small amount of credit for a new take on a Superwoman character introduced into the movie-verse of Batman Begins and nothing more. **

**BATMAN created by Bob Kane**

**SUPERMAN created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster**

**BATMAN BEGINS story by David S. Goyer**

**BATMAN BEGINS screenplay by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer**

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

_**Superwoman is a character based off both Kal – El/Clark Kent/Superman and Kara Zor – El/Linda Lee Danvers/Supergirl (Superman's cousin from Krypton). The combination of the two characters and their storylines will be apparent by the time you begin reading this story. Instead of a Last Son of Krypton it is now a Last Daughter of Krypton, instead of Kal – El it is now Kara Jor – El, instead of Clark Kent it is now Linda Kent, instead of Superman it will be Superwoman, but many many other things will still remain the same and not flipped about on its ear. **_

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**SUMMARY (Full):** AU Batman Begins movie-verse. Long before the brutal murder of his parents, a six-year-old Bruce Wayne happens to visit the small town of Smallville Kansas on a trip across country with his parents. In Smallville, Bruce meets a girl his own age named Linda Kent who saves his life but at the same time she shares with him a very deep personal secret that he promises to keep. In the years to follow Bruce continues his long distance friendship with Linda, and in their adult years the two will rise to become heroes in Gotham's greatest hour of need. One will be the ultimate crime fighter and the other will be …super.


	2. The Meteor Shower That Changed The World

**_DISCLAIMER: _I do no own nor take the creative rights to the characters of Batman, Superman, or any of the DC Comic Universe characters, places, or events. I do however take a small amount of credit for a new take on a Superwoman character introduced into the movie-verse of Batman Begins. **

**BATMAN created by Bob Kane**

**SUPERMAN created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster**

**BATMAN BEGINS story by David S. Goyer**

**BATMAN BEGINS screenplay by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer**

* * *

**Batman Begins**

**&**

**Superwoman Arrives**

_Part One: The Beginning in an Elseworld_

- Chapter One -

_The Meteor Shower That Changed The World_

Across the velvet expanse of dark space a rain of shattered rock, possibly the remains of asteroid shattering against another asteroid or planet surface, traveled on a path that was directed towards the small blue gem of the solar system called Earth. Their path took them pass the moon, a few of the meteors being pulled down into the moon's own gravitational pull, small ones but nonetheless they were pulled out from the rain and drove pits into the already crater infested surface. While these bits and pieces struck the powdery surface, the major body of the rain, ranging in shapes and sizes, continued on towards Earth. Hidden amongst this rain of space rock, hidden in the sense that of course no one was going to see it in space anyways, an oddly shaped object that bore no resemblance to that of the meteors tumbling all about it, remained straight as if it were flying itself towards Earth of a predestined path all its own.

It took only minutes and the meteor rain entered Earth's atmosphere, flames burning about their bodies, as their entrance was fast and unyielding. Upon entering the first layer of Earth's atmosphere, the meteors began to split up and fly off in different directions further from one another while still holding a course that seemed directed. This rain of space rock had gone undetected by Earth's own satellite systems even after their entry, and now they hurtled down towards the North American continent, toward America's Heartland. From high above to those down upon the ground, the meteors looked like small and distance dots that were slowly growing closer. Seeing these objects in the sky would have one thinking it was a rain of falling stars just passing by outside of the atmosphere, however, the realization that this was in fact a meteor shower and not just a cluster of falling stars hit…literally.

All across the country meteor rocks struck down into the earth, biting holes and puncturing craters into the surface. California was hit both on the coast and up towards its northern border, the meteors numbering in the few but ranging in the scale size of large. Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, they were all hit in various places with different sized meteors, but the damage was all the same – destructive. Other states across the country were hit, but none hit as hard as Kansas, and no town hit as hard as Smallville. The rain pelted down upon Smallville, the meteors smashing through buildings and slamming down upon cars of the small downtown area creating havoc and panic amongst the citizens of the small midwestern town. Even out upon the farmlands of Smallville, the meteors hit destroying crops and homes, tearing apart the roads and fields with as much ease as a tractor would have had.

Upon one of these roads that had yet to be hit by the meteor shower, a red Ford pickup truck traveled out away from downtown, already a good seven or even ten miles from it by now. Inside, a handsome childless couple named Jonathan and Martha Kent, rode peacefully through the countryside that had been their home for many years now since the day they had been married to one another. As they continued on down the road, disaster struck in the form of a big object falling out of the sky and slamming down upon the earth to then cut across the road tearing into the asphalt with its inferno temped outer shell and near converting it back to the soft mix it had been at one point before being laid down as a road. The object's cutting path came right in front of the red pickup forcing Jonathan Kent to hit the brakes and try to get the vehicle he and his wife were traveling in. Martha screamed as she felt the car start to pitch sideways as the wheels locked up and sent the truck into a sideways spin that ended rather abruptly as the wheels caught the end of the deep crevice cut into the road. The pickup then tumbled into the crevice and landed upside down at the bottom, both driver and passenger temporarily knocked unconscious at the moment.

The hissing sounds of heated minerals cooling were the only noises in the air after the car accident ended. Curls and licks of steam and smoke danced up from the sides and even the bottom of the newly hewn gully that placed an enormously dangerous gap within the road. The left front wheel of the red Ford moved a bit as if its rotations were not yet completed. It was Jonathan Kent who came too first, blinking as his vision was slightly blurry and hazed by the fog of unconsciousness becoming conscious reality once more. The movements of his wife beside stirred Jonathan awake even further and soon the farmer realized that the scenery had changed a bit for possibly the worst at the moment. They had landed upside down in a ditch or gully, and their seatbelts had saved them from any further injury that could have happened to them. Hanging as they were within their seats, suspended and held down by their seatbelts, Jonathan and Martha Kent had finally come to just in time to hear a strange sound amidst the hissing of cooling heat. The sound was similar to that of crushed gravel being walked upon by feet, and that's exactly what it was as from the side in which Jonathan occupied appeared a pair of tiny bare feet that walked towards the over turned vehicle.

"Martha?" Jonathan called his wife's attention to him in a tone of voice that sounded confused and looked over at her briefly before turning his attention back to the pair of tiny feet now coming to a stop just near the rolled down window. Martha's gaze followed her husbands and became just as confused at the sight of bare feet belonging no doubt to a child filling some of the space before the driver side window.

Before another word was spoken between the couple, the body that the feet belonged to suddenly crouched down and stared in at them with a pair of big bright blue eyes rimed in dark lashes upon a petit angelic-like face. Crouched down and staring in at the people, the little body encircled its knees with small arms and then smiled at them for a reason known only to this little mind. It was a child, as both Jonathan and Martha had reasoned separately in their own minds, and now seeing this child's face, they knew it to be a little girl who was unclothed and bearing a head of baby curls colored dark black brown. Shocked to their core to see such a sight, both husband and wife quickly exchanged looks of speechless confusion as to what was going on. It took them only a few minutes more before they snapped out of their dumbstruck state and started to free themselves from their seatbelts and the confinement of the truck. Jonathan first helped Martha get free, unclipping her seatbelt as she held her hands out against the roof of the truck to keep herself steady then carefully eased herself down on to hands and knees. Once out of her seat, Martha crawled out her window, Jonathan setting himself free as she went.

While her husband got himself situated inside the cab of the truck, Martha stood to her feet and came around quickly to the driver side of the truck where now the little girl had stood up and beamed brightly at Martha. Quickly unzipping her red jacket, Martha came to the little girl and knelt down to her level. Wrapping the adult sized jacket about the naked body of the child, Martha smiled back at her almost with same amount of wattage as the zipper of the jacket was pulled up. It seemed that as soon as the zipper of the jacket was pulled and encased the little girl in huge bundle that looked like a poorly fitted dress, the dark haired girl lifted her arms up at Martha and still bore that same smile upon her face. A bit taken back by the sudden gesture to be picked up by this little girl, Martha didn't even seem to think twice before reaching out and then picked up the girl in her arms as she stood to her feet. Jonathan had freed himself from the cab by the time Martha had started to wrap the child in her jacket, and continued to watch as his wife then quickly embraced the girl and held her close while standing. Since before they were married, the two of them wanted to have children, but when the found out that Martha couldn't have children it disheartened them a bit but that didn't change the relationship of their marriage as they also often talked about adopting.

Cradling the young child in her arms, Martha couldn't help but continue to smile as she felt the girl's arms slither up and wrap around the back of her neck to hold on to her. Jonathan held a look on his face that seemed to be that of admiration as he watched his wife interact with this child they had found alone and unclothed not long after the accident. He was snapped suddenly from his thoughts as his gaze found itself interlocking with that of the blue-eyed angel staring at him with a bright smile from the arms of his wife, and soon he too found himself smiling right back at her in the same manner. Looking over at his wife a moment later, Jonathan knew that they had to find this girl's parents and return her to them as soon as possible. "Come on sweetheart, let's see if we can find anything around here that can tell us where she came from."

Nodding in agreement with her what her husband had stated, Martha followed after him as he led the way back down the gully that they figured the girl had come from. They walked for a good ten minutes, picking their way through the debris left behind from whatever had happened out here, the Kents were now coming to the conclusion that there was something very _odd_ about how this little girl just suddenly appeared. "Jonathan, I don't see anything around here to indicate another family or car accident." Martha stated as she adjusted the falling shoulder of the jacket the girl wore.

"Martha, children just don't fall from the sky." Jonathan stated as they continued on down he gully. "She has to have a family somewhere." He added in and then came to an abrupt stop as his eyes became rather wide at the sight of the object blocking any further advancement down the gully. It had to be the thing that fell out of the sky and cut the gully through the earth and tore through the road, but it was the _weirdest _thing he had ever seen. For the most part, the entire egg shaped elongated body that looked to be at least three feet long and at least two feet wide, looked to be made of a highly polished dark metal bordering on bronze headed toward silver. Around this elongated body shape, a triangular structure surrounded it with the point resting in the same direction of the rounded point of the egg shaped body, it rested about the body at midway so that way it looked as though there were a dome on both the top and the bottom now with fins sticking out on either side of the widest part of the body. A third fin sat atop the flat base at the end of the triangle frame giving it an even further weird look of "alien-origin".

Martha came up beside her husband and stared at the object as well with raised brows and a look of shock upon her face. "Well, if she does, I don't think they're from Kansas."

The only thing that could be assumed about this…this object, was that it was something of a space ship formation and that it was nothing ever seen on earth before. Jonathan continued to stare at the space ship like object even after his wife made her comment. What did this mean then? Was this little girl, who looked perfectly human and normal, from another planet outside of their own solar system? Was she…an alien? Was that even possible? A thousand or more questions raced through Jonathan's mind as he couldn't quite grasp this whole situation at the moment. Glancing back over his shoulder to where his wife was standing just beside him, Jonathan again held a warm smile on his face as he watched his wife continue the bestowing of motherly affection upon this child of unknown origins, through smiles, rustling of her dark hair, and even a kiss upon the cheek or crown of her head. Watching her only reminded Jonathan that this was not their child and that they couldn't keep her. "Martha, sweetheart, we can't keep her. What are we going to tell people? That we found her in a field?" Jonathan stated gently knowing that this reminder would place a damper on his wife's emotions and attitude at the moment, but that couldn't be helped.

Looking over at her husband, the expression on her face having changed very little at this point even at his words. "Jonathan, we didn't find her." She stated simply and then looked at the girl who was still smiling, and yet to say a single word yet, in her arms and grinned. Jonathan's attention was taken to the girl as well who beamed at him and Martha at the same time now. "She found us."


	3. The Prelude To A Destiny

**_DISCLAIMER: _I do no own nor take the creative rights to the characters of Batman, Superman, or any of the DC Comic Universe characters, places, or events. I do however take a small amount of credit for a new take on a Superwoman character introduced into the movie-verse of Batman Begins. **

**BATMAN created by Bob Kane**

**SUPERMAN** **created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster**

**BATMAN BEGINS story by David S. Goyer**

**BATMAN BEGINS screenplay by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer**

* * *

- Chapter Two -

_The Prelude To A Destiny_

Martha Kent had flipped the tenth pancake to cook within the cast iron skillet upon the gas stove of the farmhouse kitchen for the second time when the minute hand on the clock ticked over, thus taking time forward from 7:29am to 7:30am. After the breakfast pastry landed back within the confines of the cast iron, Martha glanced over at the clock and then turned her head back over her shoulder to stare at the bottom of staircase leading up to the second floor behind her. "Linda Clark Kent, hurry up, your breakfast is ready!" She called out in a loud voice before turning her attention back to cooking the last of the pancakes for her family's morning meal.

Before the clock hand could tick over another minute, the sound of chair feet scuttling across the wooden floorboards of the kitchen reached Martha's ears. Turning her attention back over her other shoulder now to look over at the kitchen table, Martha grinned as she watched her now six-year-old daughter scramble up into the kitchen chair and then scoot herself forward to the table. Stacking the last few pancakes atop a white plate, Martha turned the stove top off and then brought the plate of pancakes over to the table and set them down at the center. Three places had already been previously set, along with the condiments used to sweeten the pancakes, and all Martha had to do now was serve out the designated number to each member of her family.

"How many do you want Linda?" Martha asked, already knowing her daughter was going to ask for at least three or four pancakes like she always did.

Since the day that Jonathan and Martha Kent found the dark haired little girl out in the middle of a field after the meteor shower that hit the country, they knew she was a very special child and that wasn't just dismissing the alien space craft they found after she found them. Through various loopholes and such, the Kents adopted the small girl they had come to name Linda (after an aunt of Jonathan's) Clark (Martha's maiden name, and to them it just seemed to fit) Kent. It was summarized, just by looking at her, that Linda had to be about three years old at least and so it was officially declared upon the certificate and adoption papers that Linda Clark Kent was three years old and that her birthday was now July 21, 1975 (the day the adoption process was completed, and the same year as the meteor shower). And so for the next three years following the adoption of Linda into the Kent family, Jonathan and Martha had never been happier to have a pair of tiny feet running about the farm. However, it wasn't long after they took Linda in as their own child, that some rather strange things were beginning to occur that didn't seem quiet normal. Whenever Linda threw a temper tantrum, a hole in the wall would appear after she threw a toy literally across the room from the other side. Then one day the real thing that made this little girl stand out in the "different complex" was when she crawled under the farm tractor that had been placed up on blocks that way Jonathan could some repairs to its underneath.

When Linda crawled under, Jonathan was terrified and almost dove under after her, but that action was halted as the tractor was suddenly lifted up off its front end completely. And there was little dark haired Linda holding up this heavy tractor weighing a ton more than she did. Her arms were stretched up over her head, hands pressed flat against the underbelly of the tractor, and she was giggling at the expression upon her daddy's face. Jonathan could only then stare in a dumbstruck state even long after Martha came outside to witness the strength of this little girl fallen from the stars. There were no more doubts, confusion, or mindless wonder as to whom or where Linda came from – she was an alien from another planet with incredible abilities that would set her apart from everyone else on the outset.

"I want three pancakes mommy." Linda stated with a huge grin on her face before reaching out her hand to grab the syrup pitcher set before her.

Martha smiled at her little daughter and set the three fluffy tan colored circular cakes down on her plate and then scooted the ceramic butter dish towards her afterwards. "Try not to play around too much with breakfast this morning sweetie." Martha stated while serving out the next few pancakes to Jonathan's plate and then went over to the kitchen door that stood open with screen keeping out the unwanted bugs, but allowing the warm breeze to blow in with the scent of the garden flowers carried upon its breath. Opening the screen door, Martha stepped halfway out and looked straight ahead to where the red barn stood a good yard from the farmhouse itself. "Jonathan! Breakfast is ready!" she called out. A somewhat muted reply was called back to her from the open barn, which was enough to satisfy Martha and have her return inside.

Tipping the pitcher forward, Linda poured out a steady stream of amber colored syrup over her pancakes slathered in creamy white butter, however, this didn't stop her from taking part of her attention away and to her mother. "Are we going somewhere today mommy?" she asked, satisfied with the fact that she had now drowned her breakfast in enough of the syrup and set the pitcher aside.

Walking over to the kitchen counter, Martha poured herself a cup of coffee that had been brewing in the pot since she arrived in the kitchen at an early hour. Glancing over at Linda, Martha smiled while also nodding her head before verbally responding to the question. "Yep. You and I are going into town today to run some errands." Martha stated while setting the coffee pot back on its hotplate and then came to sit at the table finally at the same time Jonathan was entering the kitchen from outside. Hearing the screen door open and close, as well as seeing the lit up expression on Linda's face, Martha looked back over her shoulder and beamed at her husband. "Morning sweetheart." She greeted.

Jonathan made a quick detour from his first path and went towards his family instead of the coffee pot. "Morning." He returned while coming to where Linda was seat off at an angle from her mother, and dipped down to give a few kisses on the cheek and a quick hug. Linda squealed a bit amidst her giggles and half eaten pancake stuffed within her mouth at the moment. Grinning at his daughter's response, Jonathan then went to his wife and leaned down to give her a kiss as well, although theirs of course was upon the lips and very much different from the affection the kisses given to Linda had.

"Daddy, I'm going into town with mommy today." Linda exclaimed excitedly to her father as he pulled back up from his wife and started over towards the coffee pot to grab him a cup.

Jonathan looked back over his shoulder at his daughter after retrieving a ceramic mug from the kitchen cupboard. "Really?" he asked while then turning his attention back to the mug and pot he held in hand and was now pouring from one into the other. Linda responded with a 'yes; before stuffing more pancake into her mouth and then took a gulp from her milk glass, and all before Jonathan turned about and came to sit down at the breakfast table. Looking over at Martha, his face holding the traces of a smile upon it, he set his coffee mug down.

"I have to run some errands in town, and I'll be taking Linda with me. Did you need anything while I'm there?" Martha asked while taking a sip from her own coffee cup as she awaited Jonathan's reply to this.

Jonathan shook his head. "Nope, I don't need to pick up the feed order until next week." He replied while taking up a fork and knife to start in on his own breakfast.

"Done!" Linda declared after swallowing down the last of her milk and setting the now empty glass upon the table, a small creamy mustache having been left behind in the process.

Martha grinned at her daughter, while inwardly she was shocked at how quickly Linda had eaten her breakfast this time. "Alright then, go on upstairs and get ready to go." She said, and as Linda was getting out of her chair and going to pick up her dishes, Martha stopped her. "That's okay sweetheart, I'll get them. Just make sure you brush your teeth and wash your face." She assured her. Nodding quickly at her mother, Linda took off towards the stairs and soon disappeared up to the second floor to follow her mother's instructions.

A half hour later, both mother and daughter were buckled inside the cab of the red Ford pickup truck and driving off down the long stretch of the crushed gravel driveway that connected to the street.

* * *

The vintage black Rolls-Royce had been parked in front of the small coffee café for now nearly twenty minutes while the occupants who were using its transportation service were inside enjoying the morning's freshly brewed coffee. While it was parked there, the driver sat within the front seat reading a copy of _The Daily Planet_ and listening to a soft tune wafting from the radio. The driver was an aged man by the name of Alfred Pennyworth who was somewhere in his late forties maybe early fifties at the most, white haired, blue grey eyes, and wrinkles adorned his face in certain areas. As he sat there in the Rolls reading his paper, the people he was driving were seated inside the small coffee café, they were a small family made up of three members – a man, woman, and child.

Thomas Wayne, the man in the family of course, sat across from his wife at the small circular glass topped table towards near back of the café. The place wasn't big and it wasn't too small, it seemed to be just right if pardoned the pun with a cozy sort of feel that would be expected from a small town such this. Thomas Wayne and his family, his wife Martha Wayne and their six-year-old son Bruce Wayne, were passing through Kansas on a cross country family trip and stopped here in this town of Smallville for a while to take a break from the road. Rather than fly by private jet, as they could have, the Wayne family decided to have more of a road trip across country instead. They started out from their home just outside of Gotham City in New Jersey, and went towards the direction in which Maine sat, and then they made what could be considered a U-turn and headed out towards California and the west coast. For anyone else, this would have been a very expensive trip that would have taken a few years savings up to have been executed, but then again, the Wayne family wasn't just anyone else.

The Wayne family were very much rich and lived a very comfortable life in Gotham City, or jut outside of it, in the large estate that had been in the family for six generations and now. They were one of the wealthiest families in quite possibly the country or even the world, but that could be stretching it. However, with all their wealth and such, Thomas Wayne was a doctor who left the running of Wayne Enterprises to what he called – "much more interested men". And so, now, here they were, the small family of three traveling back around to their home on the end of their cross country trip and making a stop in Smallville, Kansas.

While Thomas sat across from his wife, he drinking black coffee and she drinking a freshly brewed blend of tea, their only son, Bruce, sat somewhat in between them drinking hot cocoa and paying no attention to the conversation his parents were having. In fact, he had busied himself with just staring out the window of the café and watching the occasional car pass by while at the same time wishing he could just go sit in the car with Alfred, that is, until some new faces walked into the café. There were only about seven people inside the place, not counting those working there who numbered in five, and so Bruce took notice right away of who had just walked in through the door as the small bell was jingled over the doorframe. Leaning back in his chair a bit to look passed the other patrons, his eyes became somewhat wide as he spotted the only other person his age now inside the café holding to the hand of who he had to guess as the mother. It didn't even matter to him that this new face was a girl; he was just concerned with that fact that there was another kid finally. But wait, what good was there in having someone your own age around when you didn't even know how long they were staying and let alone who they were?

Looking over at his parents, Bruce noticed that they were still immersed within their conversation about something or other that wasn't at all that interesting in his opinion. Seeing as how they weren't paying too much attention to him at the moment, Bruce shot another glance over at the girl and her mother who were still at the front counter. The mother was talking with the lady behind the counter, no doubt ordering something, and the girl seemed to have her own interest elsewhere – right on Bruce. The shock of having someone suddenly staring at him just as he was staring to stare as well caused Bruce to jerk back in his chair rather quickly and blink a few times. Before he knew it the girl was waving at him with a small smile that he couldn't help but return right back at her.

"Bruce, who are you waving to son?"

The sound of his father's voice snapped Bruce's attention from the girl rather quickly as he turned it to him. "The girl over at the counter." Bruce replied while then pointing her out at the same time.

Thomas followed his son's direction and spotted the dark haired girl still half staring over at them from her mother's side. Smiling a bit at this, Thomas looked to Bruce and grinned broadly. "Then why don't you go say 'hello' rather than just waving at her?" He suggested and then winked over at his wife who had also been wondering who Bruce had been waving to as well.

Bruce looked from his father to his mother and received the same go ahead, and with a quick glance over at the girl whose attention had been taken back to the counter and the lady behind it, Bruce quietly nodded in partial assurance to himself, and to his parents, and then got up from his seat at the table. The walk to the front of the café seemed like it was a mile long as he headed towards this unknown girl, but Bruce almost could feel himself growing excited in the anticipation of saying something to her. Even his heart was starting to race. While trying to think about what he was going to say to her, Bruce reached the spot where she stood without even knowing it until he almost bumped into her. The girl turned her head upon hearing his approach and stared at him for a moment with passive look on her cherubic face. Her blue eyes seemed to nearly pierce his being, which caused Bruce to grow slightly nervous for the moment and held him silent as well. Swallowing his small fright, Bruce found a word. "Hi." He near murmured to her and then received a rather broad smile in response to this on her part.

"Hi." She greeted in such a warm and friendly manner that only seemed to amplify the smile upon her face at that moment, which in turn near kept Bruce to nervous to say anything else. Seeing as how he was being the rather shy and quiet one, the girl took it upon herself to start up a conversation. "What's your name?"

"Bruce." He replied while his gaze only halfway upon her while the other half seemed to be downcast upon the floor. The thought to even ask her what her name was had yet to cross his mind for some reason, but it turned out he didn't need to.

"I'm Linda." She replied, now fully giving him all her attention. "How old are you?" All these questions were typical of a small child, but to Linda it was just merely a way to find out more about this new friend that had come over to talk with her.

Bruce stared at her for a moment as if a bit astounded by the fact that she was being so blunt and forward with him like this. However, he managed to recover enough of his sense to answer her question. "Six."

If it was even possible, Linda's smile grew even brighter at this answer. "Really? Me too!" she exclaimed while stepping closer towards Bruce now and away from her mother, who had taken notice of the fact that her daughter had found someone to talk to while she was talking to the lady behind the counter still. "Do you live here?" she asked next, wondering if Bruce lived nearby or somewhere in Smallville. When Bruce shook his head 'no' in response to this, Linda frowned slightly. "You don't? Then were do you live?"

"Gotham City." He replied, his gaze now growing more steadily upon Linda as the ease of talking with her seemed to have its affect o him now.

Linda's brow furrowed a moment as she tried to figure out where Gotham City was or if she had even heard of it before. When she had racked her memory enough and found no trace of the name Gotham in there, yet, Linda gave Bruce a sideways glance. "Where's that at?" she asked, looking very much like an owl at this point.

Bruce couldn't help but start to smile at the way she looked and the sound of complete and total innocence in her voice, something he didn't realize or pick up on, but it was there and it was very much genuine as Linda had no idea where Gotham City was let alone heard of it. "It's in New Jersey. On the east coast." Bruce half answered and half explained to Linda while still holding a slight smile to his face as he talked.

"Wow, you live all the way in New Jersey?" Linda asked with a grin on her face now. "If you live that far away, then what are you doing here in Smallville…in Kansas?" she asked a bit puzzled now as to why someone from the east coast would be in the Midwest.

Bruce glanced back over at his parents who were every once in a while casting looks over at their son to see what he was doing. Looking back at Linda, he pointed with his thumb back over his shoulder. "I'm traveling with my parents on vacation." He replied. "We're headed home now, but they wanted to stop for a while." He now explained and then became quiet a moment after his eyes wandered up away from Linda.

Her nose wrinkled a bit while a brow lifted as she couldn't understand what had caused Bruce to go quiet all of a sudden and also attract his gaze. Linda lifted her head up and then let it drop a bit backwards and then grinned as she understood now what took her friend's attention so suddenly. "Hi mom!" she greeted while then brining her head back to its normal position.

"Hi yourself." Martha returned with a grin and then once more looked over at Bruce. "Who's this Linda?"

Linda's face broke into a huge smile as she turned her body so that way she stood sideways now. "My new friend, he's from Gotham City." She stated while then looking over at Bruce with the same huge smile that caused him to grow a bit nervous once again.

"Hello, and what's your name?" Martha asked while smiling at the young boy who looked to be the same age as her daughter.

He glanced up at Linda's mother with a small smile on his face and found his voice. "Bruce Wayne."


	4. The Secret

**_DISCLAIMER: _I do no own nor take the creative rights to the characters of Batman, Superman, or any of the DC Comic Universe characters, places, or events. I do however take a small amount of credit for a new take on a Superwoman character introduced into the movie-verse of Batman Begins. **

**BATMAN created by Bob Kane**

**SUPERMAN created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster**

**BATMAN BEGINS story by David S. Goyer**

**BATMAN BEGINS screenplay by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer**

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I would like to give a special thanks to the anonymous reviewer named Superfan who reminded me of something rather important that I myself had forgotten.

Thank you.

- The Last Daughter Of Krypton

* * *

- Chapter Three -

_The Secret _

It didn't take even five minutes since the meeting of Bruce Wayne and Linda Kent for the wheels of chance, fate, destiny, whatever you wanted to call it, to start moving. After Martha met her daughter's new acquaintance, she was then taken over to where Bruce's parents were seated and introduced herself and Linda to them. There was a commonality between the two six-year-olds made known that neither picked up, even after they heard it spoken, and that was the blatant fact that both their mothers were named 'Martha'. However, while the adults talked amongst themselves, Linda led Bruce away to another spot that wasn't more than seven or eight feet away and sat down on the small overstuffed crushed velvet couch set up to be used by customers. Once situated in their new seating arrangements, Linda further delved into finding out more about this new friend she had come to now attach herself to so suddenly. Casting a sideways glance over at Bruce, Linda seemed to study him for a moment as he nervously stared back at her with a half glance.

"What are you looking at?" Bruce asked, somehow already knowing that she was staring at him, but for what reason he was clueless to at the moment and wanted to know.

Linda gave Bruce a small grin before answering him. "You silly." She stated the obvious with a laughing tone to her voice. "I'm trying to figure something out." Linda further explained her face becoming a bit serious in its expression as she still continued to stare at Bruce. Before Bruce could ask what it was she was trying to figure out, Linda answered him. "Are you different?"

This question caused Bruce to wrinkle his nose while a furrow began across his brow. "Different? What are you talking about?" he asked, clearly confused by what seemed to be a rather random question on Linda's part.

For some reason, the look on Bruce's face was all it took for Linda to just shake her dark head in response before again smiling at her new friend. "Never mind." She assured him and then looked over at her mother and Bruce's parents as they were laughing and talking about something. "I wonder what's so funny." Linda murmured aloud to herself as she watched them.

"Probably something only adults talk about or think is important." Bruce shrugged his shoulders and then glanced out the large window beyond the adults to where the black Roles-Royce was parked alongside the curb. Suddenly an idea formed itself within Bruce's mind, and for some reason he felt like impressing Linda even though they had just met. Looking back over at her, he slowly started to grin. "Hey, you wanna see my car?"

Linda seemed to perk up immediately at this and also return the grin forming still upon Bruce's face. "You have a car?" she asked in a rather excited manner but made sure not to become too loud and cause the adults to look over at them.

After Bruce nodded his head in responsive conformation, he grabbed Linda's hand nearest his own and slid down off the couch with his new friend following. The two six-year-olds managed to slip out of the coffee house unnoticed entirely and then walked a few feet down the sidewalk to come at a stop beside the expensive black car. Bruce still held on to Linda's hand as they stood beside the driver side of the car and stared at their reflections in the rather shinny surface despite the thin layer of dust that had accumulated from driving through a place mainly comprised of farmland. Bruce looked over at Linda and couldn't help but grin at the awed expression on her face.

"This is your car?" Linda asked after a moment of silence that had passed by now, her blue eyes shifted over to Bruce now finally. Bruce nodded with a rather triumphant look on his face which caused Linda to grin again before she found herself looking up at a much older man's face staring down out of the open window at her and Bruce with a rather pleasant smile on his face.

"Hello Alfred." Bruce greeted the older gentleman with a smile.

"Afternoon Master Bruce." Alfred returned while his gaze remained upon both children at the same time. He smiled warmly over at the little girl he hadn't seen before, but after spotting the fact that Bruce Wayne had her hand in his, Alfred could only guess the young master had found a new friend. "And who would this lovely young lady be?" he asked while nodding at Linda finally.

Bruce looked over at Linda in a quick glance before looking back up at Alfred. "This is Linda…what's your last name?" Bruce asked as he looked back over at Linda as he now realized he never did get her last name when they first introduced themselves to one another.

Linda, who was now having her turn of being nervous, held a bashful look on her face. "Kent, Linda Kent." She replied while staring down at her shoes and the sidewalk.

Alfred grinned at the bashful look on Linda's face as she stared down at the sidewalk and her shoes. "Well, it is a pleasure to meet you Ms. Kent. My name is Alfred Pennyworth, but you may call me Alfred if you like." He said and managed to bring the young girl's attention back up at him and received a rather pleasant smile from her as well. _My, my what a beautiful little lady, and that smile is rather infectious to say the least. It'll do the young master some good to have a young friend his own age finally. _"If I may ask, where are your parents Master Bruce?"

It was now after the second time hearing this that Linda furrowed her brow a bit and gave Alfred a rather confused look. "Excuse me Mr. Alfred, but why did you call Bruce – Master Bruce?" she asked while then looking over at her new friend with the same look on her face.

The sudden hearty laugh that Alfred gave just further confused the young girl. After the laugh passed, Alfred smiled brightly at Linda. "I call Master Bruce, Master, because I work for his family as their chauffer and butler. I have been since I first met Mr. Wayne in his younger years."

Linda nodded at this in her complete understanding, as her young mind was able to completely comprehend this to the fullest of the meanings extent. "So then, you work for Bruce's family?" Linda asked while looking over at Bruce, who was in turn looking at her.

Alfred chuckled lightly. "Yes that would be correct." He replied and then looked up and over at the door of the coffee house. "Looks like we have some company." He mused while spotting Mr. and Mrs. Wayne coming out along with a woman he presumed to be Linda's mother.

Both children looked over into the same direction that Alfred was and spotted their parents coming towards them while still chatting. Martha Kent came up to her daughter and grinned down at her after finishing her conversation with the Waynes. "Having fun?" she asked while noticing the amused look on her six-year-old daughter's face. After Linda nodded in response to this, Martha only grinned wider as she turned to Thomas and Martha Wayne. "My car is parked across the way." She stated while pointing out the vehicle that she had driven into town to get herself and Linda into downtown Smallville in the first place.

Thomas nodded to this and then looked to Alfred. "Alfred, I'd like to introduce Mrs. Martha Kent. She lives here in Smallville with her husband and daughter on a farm." Thomas introduced the two to each other and then after the formalities had been exchanged, he then further explained to Alfred the details of a plan they had made inside the coffee house. "Mrs. Kent has invited us out to her home for lunch. We'll be following her car out of town."

"Of course sir. Mrs. Kent, I'll wait for your lead then." Alfred stated with a courteous nod to her.

Martha nodded in agreement to this, and then after exchanging a few early directions and slight warnings about the road to the farm, Martha led Linda off towards their own car across the street. Following after her mother, Linda was a bit confused still after hearing the adults talk. "Mom, are Bruce and his family leaving?" she asked, a bit of disappointment now clearly written across her face as she looked up at her mother.

"Not quite yet sweetie." Martha answered while glancing down at her as they came around to the passenger side of their car. Unlocking the door, Martha waited for Linda to hop in first and get her seatbelt on. Once Linda was situated, Martha closed the door and came around to the driver side and got in as well. Once she had herself strapped in, Martha looked over at Linda. "Bruce and his family are coming over for lunch before they leave Smallville." Martha explained while starting the car and waiting for a clear opening before pulling out into the road.

The look on Linda's face would have had even a hard heart melting as her lips pulled into the biggest grin that even Martha had yet to see come from her. Seeing the grin, Martha couldn't help but grin as well as laugh jovially at her daughter's excitement. The whole car ride home consisted of Linda turning about in her seat every fifteen minutes to peer out the back window at the black Roles Royce following after them, and eventually Martha had to tell her small daughter that she needed to sit still now before she got hurt. Almost thirty-five minutes later, both cars pulled up the long gravel driveway of the Kent Farm and came to a stop within the large yard that separated the backside of the farmhouse from the large red barn itself. Before Martha allowed Linda to get out of the pickup truck, she kept her still a moment to speak with her concerning a few things that needed to be addressed.

"Linda, I know you already know this, but we need to go over the rules of having company over. Remember, no playing on any of the farm equipment, leaving the yard, and no picking things up that are much bigger than you. Is that understood?" she asked with a rather serious look upon her face.

Linda nodded her head with a smile attached to her lips. "Yes mommy, I understand. No playing on the farm equipment, no leaving the yard, and no picking up things that are bigger than me." Linda recited the rules back to her and then gave her mother a rather hopeful and expectant look, which caused Martha to laugh a bit before giving her the go ahead to get out of the cab.

Alfred had already gotten out of the car and come around to open the back door for the family to get out of their vehicle at about the same time that Linda's passenger side door swung open and the dark haired little girl leapt out. Martha stepped out of the cab as well and closed her door while taking notice of her husband, Jonathan Kent, coming out of the barn doors. Linda ran over to the side of the car that Bruce's parents were getting out from and waited off to the side patiently for Bruce to get out so that way she could show him their farm.

Jonathan watched his wife approach him and smiled affectionately at her. "Hello sweetheart." He greeted, a kiss being exchanged between them briefly before the question was asked. "Who are our guests?" He asked while nodding over at the Waynes as Alfred was closing the door of the car.

"Jonathan, this is Thomas and Martha Wayne, and their son who our daughter has now gotten a hold of, Bruce." She introduced her husband to the family while grinning at how quickly Linda had gotten Bruce to follow her off towards the barn now where a grown adult tabby cat was waltzing out of with a sleepy look upon its furred face. The formalities and greetings were exchanged between the adults and after Martha called out to Linda that lunch was going to be ready in a half hour, the four headed inside while Alfred remained outside to watch the two six-year-olds.

Linda picked up the orange tabby that seemed still too sleepy to bother with being picked up at the moment. "This is Streaky. My daddy got him last year to hunt the mice in the barn." Linda explained while then scratching the space between the cat's ears between its ears, this causing the cat to start purring immediately. "Do you wanna hold him?" she asked Bruce while holding the cat out towards him.

"He won't scratch me will he?" Bruce asked as he was hesitant at first to take the cat from Linda. But after Linda shook her head 'no', he took the orange tabby into his own arms and listened to it purr against his chest as the tabby seemed rather content to be held within his arms. "He likes me." Bruce commented while looking up at Linda, but then took on a thoughtful look. "Him purring does mean he likes me, right?"

Linda giggled while nodding to assure him that this was of course true. "Yep, Streaky likes only a few people, me, my mom, my dad, Pete, and Lana. But now it looks like he likes you as well."

The mention of two unfamiliar names caused Bruce to give Linda a rather confused look. "Who are Pete and Lana?"

"Oh, they're my friends. Pete Ross and Lana Lang, we go to school together." Linda explained while watching Streaky blink lazily in Bruce's arms before yawning in a wide manner. "Do you have any friends at home in Gotham City?" she asked while tilting her head to the side.

At this, Bruce became rather quiet for a moment and then looked up at Linda after staring down at Streaky for a while. "No." he murmured quietly.

Hearing this caused Linda to take on a rather sad look upon her face for a moment. How could someone not have friends? This didn't make any sense to her at all, but then again, Linda had Pete and Lana as friends since her first day of school. It was then that a sudden idea brightened her greatly. "I know, how about you and I be friends then!" she exclaimed happily.

"What?" Bruce asked while setting Streaky down on the ground as the cat was becoming a bit restless now. "You and me? But we don't live close enough to each other." He pointed out in comment as he brushed some of the orange hairs left behind on his shirt away. "How can we be friends?"

"That doesn't matter silly." Linda stated while grinning at him broadly. "Do you want to be friends?" she asked. Bruce nodded his head almost immediately to this, which shocked him at how quickly he had agreed to it, and this caused Linda to smile even more. "Then we're friends!" she declared while holding out a hand to Bruce, which he then took and allowed Linda to shake it with her own. "Come on, I want to show you the horses we have inside the barn." She stated, and then looked over to where Alfred was sitting upon the step of the Roles. "Alfred, come inside the barn with us and see the horses!"

Before lunch, Linda had shown Bruce and Alfred the several horses that the Kents owned, one a white horse that Linda called Comet and the other two colored brown named Titus and August. She showed them the loft that was cluttered with a bunch of old junk that Martha stored there for the time being, and even took them outside to the sheep pen behind the barn to show them the new baby lambs that had been born a few weeks ago. When lunch was called, they headed inside.

Linda and Bruce were the first to finish their lunch of course, and after asking to be excused so they could go outside and play, they left the adults to talk amongst themselves all over again while this time Alfred joined them.

Outside, Bruce and Linda were playing with Streaky on the porch steps for a good while before getting up and going back to the sheep pen to sit up on the fence and watch the lambs play with each other. As they talked together about random things, it was Bruce who broke away from the conversation as he took notice of something large and red off to their far left back behind the barn. "Linda, what's that?" he asked while pointing at it.

Looking over to where Bruce was pointing, Linda squinted a bit as she stared and then returned her face to a normal look. "That's the tractor. Why?" she asked, and then before anything else could be said, she watched as Bruce jumped down off the fence. "Bruce wait!" Linda called after him as he ran over towards the large red tractor that had lost most of its bright color due to years of use and weather beating. Her tone of voice was rather panicked, as she knew her dad had set the tractor up on blocks to repair something underneath the other day and had yet to set it back down, and had told her to make sure to stay away from the tractor until he was done working on it. "Bruce, please wait!" Linda shouted as she too now jumped down off the fence and ran after him. Bruce was already at the tractor and climbing up towards the seat by the time Linda reached him with a somewhat frightened look on her face. "Bruce you can't be up there." Linda stated while coming to a stop beside the tractor itself and motioned with a wave of her hand for him to come down.

Bruce looked down at Linda, as he was half way towards the tractor seat already. "Why not?" he asked while grinning a bit at her and then turned back around to finish climbing up the tractor. Seating himself in the dusty seat, Bruce adjusted himself a bit before then looking down at Linda with the grin still there on his face. "Come on Linda, come up here with me." He waved at her in a gesture for her to come up.

For a moment, Linda was a bit hesitant at first as she stared up at her new friend and his lack of fear, but then a sudden smile started to tug at her lips as Bruce begged for her to come up with him with his green eyes alone and boyish of all looks he seemed capable of for a six-year-old. Without another moment of hesitation Linda clambered up on to the tractor after Bruce, who moved over a bit in the seat to make room for Linda to sit down. Linda and Bruce looked at one another with large grins on their faces before starting in on a game of pretend farming. "We should plow the new corn field for Mr. Evans." Linda stated while standing up and pointing off to the far left passed Bruce. The spoken of field sat far out passed the Kent Farm some good several miles or so, but it was just pretend of course.

"Okay then. You drive since you know where the field is." Bruce stated while staring off towards the field Linda had been pointing out, and then looked over at her as she reseated herself next to him once again.

Linda giggled at this and set her hands upon the steering wheel. "Alright, then let's get going." Linda declared while turning the wheel slightly, but then again, it was just enough to cause the axel to move against the blocks keeping the tractor up off the ground. The sudden movement clipped the blocks and started a shutter through the tractor that caused both children to freeze immediately. "Oh no." Linda whispered as she felt the tractor shutter once more.

Before either one could do or saying anything else, the tractor groaned as it tipped sideways. Both Bruce and Linda gave startled cries as they found themselves falling with the tractor as a sense of fear washed up over them as they went down, and both children grabbed on to one another in a panicked embrace. It had all happened to them so quickly that by the time the tractor had fallen down on to the ground with a heavy thud, neither Bruce nor Linda could let out a cry loud enough for any of the adults to hear. A silence soon ensued that was rather eerie to say the least as the dust that had been kicked up in the wake of the tractor's tipping started to settle. The tractor itself had managed to flip in a manner that it covered both six-year-olds underneath its heavy body.

The silence that had started soon died out as a creaking groan of strained metal started up and then the tractor started to shift and move as if being raised up on a jack of some kind. One whole side of tractor was suddenly lifted up off the ground and Bruce stared up from his half sprawled position on the ground with wide eyes. Little dark haired and blue-eyed Linda Kent stood there over him with her arms stretched up over her head, palms flat, holding the tractor up like it was a cardboard box. "Bruce, move." She whispered in a strained manner as the terror of what had happened and what was going on now scared her still.

Nodding only once, Bruce scrambled out from under the tractor and got to his feet at the same time Linda was resetting the tractor right side up, but minus being on the blocks of course. Bruce stared at Linda with a slack jaw and large wide eyes as she turned about to face him with a somewhat guilty look on her face. For a moment, the ability to speak escaped Bruce completely but then his brain kicked back up and he nearly tackled Linda with a huge hug. "Oh my god! How did you do that!" Bruce spoke so quickly that it was miracle anyone understood what he had just asked. Pulling back off Linda, he waited for her reply.

Linda stared down at the ground. "I don't know." She started. "I've always been able to do stuff like that." Linda explained, but then stopped while her face showed a deep sense of complete panic as something suddenly struck her at that moment. "Bruce, you can't tell anyone what I did!"

This sudden burst caused Bruce to take a step back from Linda for a moment, as he was suddenly confused. "Why not?" he asked curiously.

"Because, my mom and dad said I'm not supposed to do that! If they find out I'll get in trouble!" Linda cried, her eyes starting now to water a bit at the perspective of getting into trouble after breaking the rules set down by her mom and dad. She never meant to use them, but it was her fault in the first place that the tractor tipped over, so in a sense it was her responsibility to fix what she did wrong. And fix it she did, but now Bruce knew about what made her 'different'.

Seeing how upset Linda was now becoming over all of this, Bruce couldn't get any words out as he was dumbstruck with what to say, and apparently his silence scared Linda as she suddenly burst into tears. Now becoming frantic at the fact that he had her crying Bruce looked around quickly for some unknown reason, whether it was to see if someone was coming or not who knows, but as Linda continued to cry, Bruce suddenly felt very sad himself as he stared at Linda. "I don't know what I did to make you cry Linda, but I'm sorry." He stated in apology, his voice was soft as he spoke to her. "Please stop crying."

"I…can't…" Linda hiccupped as she spoke and rubbed at her wet cheeks to rid them of the tearstains.

Not knowing why it was exactly that he did what he did next, Bruce reached out and set his hand upon the top of Linda's bowed head. "Please stop crying, it's okay, I won't tell anyone." He stated while now stroking the top of her head like his mother did to him when he was upset. If it calmed him down, then maybe it would calm Linda down as well. Apparently his assumptions were correct as Linda was starting to cease her crying.

"You promise you won't tell anyone?" she asked as she looked up at him with glassy blue eyes and a trembling bottom lip.

"I promise. I won't tell anyone about what you did, I won't tell my mom, my dad, or Alfred. The only people who will know will be you and me." Bruce gave her a small smile, which in turn caused Linda to smile a bit now. "I promise, cross my heart and hope to die." He declared while taking his hand off her head and making an X over the place on his chest the beneath resided his heart.

Linda sniffed quietly and then ran the back of her hand over her cheeks to wipe away the tears that still lingered. "Thank you Bruce." She murmured quietly in her soft tone of voice.

The smile that came next caused Bruce to grin a bit sheepishly as he felt a bit weird on the inside of his stomach, like there were little butterflies flying around in there. Looking down at his dust covered shoes, Bruce muttered a – "Your welcome" to Linda which was followed by a sudden hug from the dark haired girl. This action caught Bruce completely off-guard to say the least and caused him to go rather stiff almost immediately. Not more than a second after he was grabbed and went completely numb, Bruce relaxed as he felt…safe, in Linda's hold on him.

Linda only grinned at her friend. "It'll be our little secret." she stated while breaking off her hug to Bruce.

Bruce stared back at her with a somewhat blank passive look on his face and then slowly nodded. "Okay. Our secret, I promise to keep it no matter what and I won't tell a single person. Ever."


End file.
